Westwood was philosophical, but clearly annoyed and frustrated at his lapses. "Martin's ball has carried the water by a foot and mine must have gone in by a foot - that's the chance you take in play-offs," he said. Westwood has now gone almost two years without a European Tour win, despite 17 top-ten finishes.
"You can't judge the week by that and I certainly can't be disappointed by anything after the way I played today. I was delighted with my putting. I had 31 putts for the first three rounds here and that's just not good enough, but I putted a lot better today and that's just what I need to do because if I can carry that on then I will be winning events by a couple of shots and not going to play-offs."
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Rafa Echinique - fully focused on 11, but his concentration would later lapse
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Speaking before he teed off at six-under in the final round, Westwood's fellow England star Ian Poulter said that he thought a 65 might be enough to win it. In fact he shot 67, and finished on his own in third place at ten-under.
Starting a shot better off than Poulter on seven-under, Westwood did in fact shoot a 65 - the best round of the day along with Dane Soren Hansen - but it proved one shot shy of what he needed to take the title.
He did everything right in the course of his round. Starting in the fourth-from last group, he was looking up at half a dozen much younger and much less-experienced players. The thing to do was put them under immediate pressure, and that is what Westwood did with a run of seven birdies in the first thirteen holes that included a hat-trick from 11 to 13. That took him briefly into the outright lead as Kaymer bogeyed 12, but Westwood himself dropped a shot on 14 to go back to thirteen-under.
After that he could find no more birdies, and he played out the remaining holes in par.
Kaymer was playing in the final group with overnight leader Rafa Echinique of Argentina. Echinique had played exceptionally well on the first two days, and a little less well on the Saturday, although he held his scoring together to start the final round on eleven-under.
But the irons that had sparked his game earlier in the tournament were misfiring, and he was not giving himself the same chances to bring his putter into play. He did birdie the 4th to briefly hold Kaymer and Westwood at bay, but when he bogeyed the 7th there was no way back.
The others pulled steadily away from him, and his round fell apart at the par-4 15th when he found water twice and carded a 7. A dispute with the Rules Official clearly affected his concentration, and he finished with another triple-bogey on the last to drop form eleven-under to five-under and a share of 13th place.
This was a lapse that clearly showed the young Argentinean's inexperience, and it is something that he will want to remedy. Although he has already qualified for The Open, he lost something in the region of 200,000 Euros in the space of four holes, and that could cost him dear when the final rankings for the Race to Dubai are totted up at the end of the season.
Kaymer, for his part, was both steady and inspired. He birdied the 4th and the 6th before dropping his first shot of the day on 7, but he birdied 8, 9 and 10 with some very long putts, including a massive eighty-footer on the par-3 8th. Following the bogey on 12 that took him back to thirteen-under he played out the rest of the round in regulation. He did have one good chance to secure outright victory on the long uphill par-4 17th, but having given himself an eight-footer for birdie he was unable to convert.
This was Kaymer's third tour victory, and he can no longer be considered a ‘promising youngster'. "I want to win a lot more tournaments,' he said. "But most of all I want to play in a lot of Ryder Cups."
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It wasn't a great tournament for the French contingent, but Jean Van de Velde is always wreathed in smiles
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This latest victory moved the young Dusseldorfer up to 5th in the European Tour rankings, and if he maintains the form he has been showing over the last year or so there is every chance that his dream will become a reality.
Final Scores:
271 - Martin Kaymer (Ger); Lee Westwood (Eng)
274 - Ian Poulter (Eng)
275 - Anders Hansen (Den); Peter Hanson (Swe)
276 – Kenneth Ferrie (Eng); Richard Green (Aus); Soren Hansen (Den); Paul Waring (Eng)
Three others at 278
(China.org.cn July 6, 2009)
